CHEE3741 Assignments 2016

As per the course outline, please note the following:

The Design Project and Assignments 1-4 must be submitted as hardcopies at the EB
laboratory Chemical Engineering assignment submission box (electronic submission will
not be accepted). A signed and date-stamped university assessment item cover sheet must
be attached. Students must keep a copy of these assignments for their own records in case
the assignments are misplaced.

Weekly Lecture Summaries must be hand-written, submitted as scanned pdf file via
Blackboard online submission.

Assignments should always include the following:

 Clear statement of any assumptions used (these should be verified where possible).
 Diagram showing process and system boundaries, summarising information from the
question.
 Clear definition of variables.
 Citation of source of equations and solution method used.
 Citation of sources of all material property data used.
 Units must be shown clearly with all numbers. In equations you should include units and
show how they cancel to give the units of the calculated result.
 Complete set of sample calculations. NOTE: A printout of a spread-sheet does not constitute
sample calculations. You need to clearly show what equations you have used and what
numbers you have put into them. An example calculation for each type of calculation is
essential.
Even if not explicitly asked to, you should always discuss your results and whenever possible check
their magnitude is reasonable.

1
 Prof Kevin Galvin
Ph: 4033 9077
CHEE3741, 2016 Design Project
Multicomponent Distillation Column Design
(Deadlines for Phase 1 and Phase 2 are termed deadline 1, deadline 2)

A sieve tray distillation column is to be designed to produce a stabilized gasoline product from a raw
gasoline feed. The system pressure is 1379 kPa at the top of the vessel in the condenser (assume value
does not change with each stage). The required feed throughput is 341.7 lbmol/h. There is to be no
detectable loss of n-pentane into the overheads. The feed enters the column at its bubble point and a
partial condenser is employed. The composition of the feed (mole %) is:

Table 1 Feed composition (mole %)

nC2 nC3 iC4 nC4 iC5 nC5 nC7
% 8.9 27.1 8.0 19.4 7.3 12.1 17.2

Phase 1: Produce a steady state solution based on the optimum number of stages, feed tray location,
and reflux ratio using the distillate rate (D) and impurity specification (mole %) given to you in the
lecture. This is best done by selecting a given reflux ratio and then varying the number of trays until
you just meet the given specification. As a first guess, set the feed tray position to be about half way
up the column. Once close to the minimum cost for the selected reflux ratio, record the corresponding
optimum. Hence you will record the reflux ratio, number of stages, feed tray position, capital,
operating and total cost. Then select a new reflux ratio. The optimum design occurs when you find the
reflux ratio that yields the lowest total cost. Try to cover a broad range of reflux ratios. Note, if you
use relatively extreme values for the reflux ratio and number of stages, you may find the program fails
to converge. Ignore such cases. Prepare a graph based around the optimum condition showing the
curve for the capital cost, operating cost, and total costs as a function of the reflux ratio. All data
points must satisfy your given design constraints (D, mole% value - see below). Submit a date-
stamped copy of your optimum steady state solution by deadline 1 (see Course Outline). Keep the
original for your own records to work on for Phase 2. NOTE: Your Phase 1 solution will be marked
in conjunction with the Phase 2 analysis only after both parts have been submitted.

Phase 2: Use your optimum steady state solution from Phase 1 for this exercise. Show a detailed
molar and energy balance around a general stage in the column, the feed tray position, condenser and
reboiler. Verify that the heat loads on the condenser and reboiler are correct by comparing your
calculated values with those from the program output. Examine the relationship between the x and y
values of a component for the streams leaving a stage. You will need to use the input data from the
data file to describe the liquid and vapour enthalpies of components and K values as a function of
temperature. Tabulate the mass and energy flows of the components, and the streams using Excel and
provide detailed example calculations.

Hand in the solutions to Phase 1 and Phase 2 together by deadline 2 (date in Course Outline).

PTO for more information on DICODE.

2
 CHEE3741 Major Equipment Design Problem (cont.)

Requirements: The distillate rate required is specified below as D lbmol/h and the required recovery
% n-butane in the overheads must be less than the specified value. You will be provided with your
unique set of conditions.

Use of the Student Version of DICODE

You will be given access to the software DICODE which is used for DIistillation COlumn Design and
you will be provided with a session in the lectures on how to run the Dicode program. The data for the
problem, which is provided in order to save you time, is contained in the file DISDATA. Using
DICODE, you can alter the data in the file. Please note that the input data are in Imperial units and the
output data are SI (units are noted in the output).

Double click the DICODE icon and select Option 1, enter DISDATA, select Option 2, and select
group 5, “Parameters”.

Parameter 1 number of stages NS

Parameter 2 feed stage NF
Parameter 3 reflux ratio R
Parameter 4 distillate rate D (lbmol/h)
Parameter 5 feed vapour fraction FVF (should be 0 for feed at its bubble point)
Parameter 6 distillate vapour fraction DVF (should be 1 for partial condenser)

Set the value of parameter 4. Vary parameters 1, 2, and 3 in order to meet your requirements (see D
and recovery% in Table 1), and minimise the total cost.

Table 1 You will be provided with a pair of D and recovery % values for your unique design problem.
D (lbmol/h) values (recovery % n butane)
120 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0
124 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0
128 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0
132 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0
136 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0
140 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0
144 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0
148 0.02 0.1 0.5 1.0 3.0

3
VAPOUR FROM STAGE 1 CORRESPONDS TO THE DISTILLATE (composition and flowrate)
EVEN THOUGH THE DISTILLATE MAY CONTAIN LIQUID

NUMBER OF STAGES.................. 23
FEED TRAY NUMBER.................. 9
REFLUX RATIO...................... 1.95
DISTILLATE RATE (kmoles per hr)... 60.451
FEED TEMPERATURE (degrees C)...... 64.5
FEED VAPOUR FRACTION.............. .0000
DISTILLATE VAPOUR FRACTION........1.0000
CONDENSER HEAT LOAD (MW).......... .498
REBOILER HEAT LOAD (MW)........... 1.024

STAGE NUMBER TEMPERATURE LIQUID RATE VAPOUR RATE

(degrees C) (kmoles per hr) (kmoles per hr)

1 35.4 117.9 60.5

2 43.7 115.2 178.3
3 49.6 112.6 175.7
4 54.3 110.6 173.1
5 58.2 109.1 171.1
6 61.4 107.6 169.6
7 64.2 104.8 168.0
8 68.0 96.2 165.3
9 78.0 266.4 156.6
10 86.1 277.6 171.9
11 91.6 285.8 183.0
12 95.5 291.8 191.3
13 98.1 296.0 197.3
14 99.9 298.9 201.5
15 101.2 300.7 204.4
16 102.1 301.8 206.2
17 102.9 302.4 207.3
18 103.7 302.5 207.8
19 104.7 302.0 207.9
20 106.2 300.3 207.4
21 108.9 295.0 205.7
22 115.0 277.6 200.4
23 131.9 94.5 183.0

LIQUID COMPOSITION

1 .08097 .72948 .15676 .03277 .00002 .00001 .00000

2 .04177 .64469 .24588 .06753 .00010 .00004 .00000
3 .03154 .53694 .31803 .11297 .00034 .00018 .00000
4 .02829 .44371 .36171 .16462 .00102 .00065 .00000
5 .02678 .37525 .37589 .21719 .00275 .00213 .00000
6 .02583 .32859 .36624 .26600 .00686 .00641 .00005
7 .02511 .29630 .33851 .30530 .01603 .01794 .00081
8 .02438 .26939 .29319 .32254 .03421 .04559 .01070
9 .02289 .22898 .21270 .27930 .05873 .09212 .10529
10 .00738 .16991 .25722 .31173 .05934 .09236 .10206
11 .00222 .11524 .29008 .33989 .05993 .09274 .09990
12 .00064 .07359 .31051 .36335 .06041 .09309 .09841
13 .00018 .04514 .32009 .38298 .06081 .09340 .09742
14 .00005 .02694 .32116 .40017 .06119 .09372 .09677
15 .00001 .01579 .31579 .41622 .06163 .09415 .09641
 16 .00000 .00913 .30547 .43209 .06226 .09479 .09625
17 .00000 .00521 .29106 .44825 .06332 .09590 .09626
18 .00000 .00295 .27286 .46440 .06526 .09806 .09646
19 .00000 .00164 .25067 .47893 .06908 .10264 .09704
20 .00000 .00089 .22366 .48761 .07656 .11261 .09867
21 .00000 .00047 .19002 .48054 .09039 .13351 .10506
22 .00000 .00022 .14626 .43530 .11081 .16997 .13746
23 .00000 .00009 .08824 .31166 .11967 .19837 .28198

VAPOUR COMPOSITION

1 .22819 .69471 .06711 .00998 .00000 .00000 .00000

2 .13088 .71769 .12637 .02504 .00002 .00001 .00000
3 .10591 .66190 .18438 .04773 .00007 .00003 .00000
4 .10023 .59205 .23038 .07700 .00022 .00012 .00000
5 .09893 .53240 .25761 .10998 .00066 .00042 .00000
6 .09857 .48911 .26583 .14333 .00177 .00137 .00000
7 .09863 .46029 .25863 .17390 .00440 .00411 .00004
8 .09939 .44202 .23924 .19729 .01017 .01138 .00052
9 .10249 .43127 .20501 .20454 .02140 .02855 .00674
10 .03548 .35491 .28116 .26149 .02521 .03367 .00809
11 .01119 .25763 .34450 .31177 .02817 .03760 .00913
12 .00332 .17216 .38985 .35385 .03039 .04053 .00990
13 .00095 .10882 .41703 .38812 .03201 .04263 .01044
14 .00026 .06627 .42887 .41644 .03320 .04415 .01082
15 .00007 .03937 .42891 .44111 .03414 .04532 .01110
16 .00002 .02299 .42013 .46416 .03502 .04636 .01132
17 .00001 .01325 .40456 .48703 .03608 .04754 .01153
18 .00000 .00755 .38333 .51039 .03768 .04928 .01177
19 .00000 .00425 .35681 .53385 .04053 .05246 .01212
20 .00000 .00235 .32470 .55517 .04602 .05902 .01275
21 .00000 .00126 .28589 .56847 .05675 .07320 .01443
22 .00000 .00064 .23804 .56021 .07658 .10292 .02160
23 .00000 .00029 .17623 .49917 .10622 .15529 .06280
Conversion from Btu/lbmol to kJ/kmol, multiply by 2.3258

K Values Liquid Enthalpies (Btu/lnmol) Vapour Enthalpies (Btu/lbmol)

co c1 c2 c3 co c1 c2 c3 co c1 c2 c3
comp1 9.35E-01 1.84E-02 1.45E-05 -8.08E-09 3.63E+03 4.09E+01 -1.08E-01 1.49E-04 8.29E+03 1.41E+01 1.06E-03 8.11E-06
comp2 2.00E-01 5.20E-03 2.93E-05 -1.52E-08 4.61E+03 2.29E+01 8.25E-02 -1.54E-04 1.21E+04 1.03E+01 3.40E-02 -2.23E-05
comp3 8.95E-02 1.70E-03 1.87E-05 5.62E-09 5.73E+03 1.85E+01 1.20E-01 -1.68E-04 1.49E+04 1.36E+01 2.15E-02 2.54E-05
comp4 7.21E-02 7.67E-04 1.68E-05 5.84E-09 5.95E+03 2.59E+01 6.17E-02 -5.09E-05 1.60E+04 1.43E+01 2.63E-02 3.91E-06
comp5 1.39E-02 5.14E-04 6.39E-06 1.43E-08 6.79E+03 4.00E+01 -1.74E-02 1.14E-04 1.87E+04 2.63E+01 -2.60E-02 9.95E-05
comp6 2.22E-02 4.53E-05 7.77E-06 9.79E-09 6.68E+03 4.60E+01 -3.99E-02 1.38E-04 1.93E+04 2.95E+01 -2.97E-02 8.25E-05
comp7 -4.00E-03 2.16E-04 -1.28E-06 1.35E-08 8.86E+03 4.80E+01 3.57E-02 3.37E-06 2.57E+04 3.39E+01 4.39E-02 -4.72E-05

Temp 2 43.7 C 110.7 F

Temp 1 35.4 C 95.7 F

mole frac kmol/h kJ/kmol kJ/h mole frac kmol/h kJ/kmol kJ/h mole frac kmol/h kJ/kmol kJ/h OUTFLOWOUTFLOW
CompV2 FlowV2 CompH2 EV2 CompV1 FlowV1 CompH1 EV1 CompL1 FlowL1 Comph1 EL1 Flow Energy K1 K1calc
comp1 0.13088 23.3 2.29E+04 5.35E+05 0.22819 13.8 2.24E+04 3.10E+05 0.08098 9.5 1.55E+04 1.48E+05 23.4 4.58E+05 2.817856 2.82E+00
comp2 0.71767 128.0 3.18E+04 4.07E+06 0.69470 42.0 3.12E+04 1.31E+06 0.72945 86.0 1.72E+04 1.48E+06 128.0 2.79E+06 0.952361 9.53E-01
comp3 0.12637 22.5 3.89E+04 8.76E+05 0.06712 4.1 3.82E+04 1.55E+05 0.15675 18.5 1.97E+04 3.64E+05 22.5 5.19E+05 0.428198 4.28E-01
comp4 0.02506 4.5 4.17E+04 1.86E+05 0.00999 0.6 4.10E+04 2.48E+04 0.03278 3.9 2.08E+04 8.05E+04 4.5 1.05E+05 0.304759 3.05E-01
comp5 0.00002 0.0 4.98E+04 1.78E+02 0.00000 0.0 4.90E+04 0.00E+00 0.00002 0.0 2.46E+04 5.79E+01 0.0 5.79E+01 0 1.34E-01
comp6 0.00001 0.0 5.20E+04 9.27E+01 0.00000 0.0 5.11E+04 0.00E+00 0.00001 0.0 2.52E+04 2.97E+01 0.0 2.97E+01 0 1.06E-01
comp7 0.00000 0.0 6.95E+04 0.00E+00 0.00000 0.0 6.80E+04 0.00E+00 0.00000 0.0 3.21E+04 0.00E+00 0.0 0.00E+00 0 1.68E-02
TOTAL 1.00001 178.3 5.67E+06 1.00000 60.5 1.80E+06 0.99999 117.9 2.08E+06 178.4 3.88E+06
Conversion from Btu/lbmol to kJ/kmol, multiply by 2.3258

K Values Liquid Enthalpies (Btu/lbmol) Vapour Enthalpies (Btu/lbmol)

co c1 c2 c3 co c1 c2 c3 co c1 c2 c3
comp1 9.35E-01 1.84E-02 1.45E-05 -8.08E-09 3.63E+03 4.09E+01 -1.08E-01 1.49E-04 8.29E+03 1.41E+01 1.06E-03 8.11E-06
comp2 2.00E-01 5.20E-03 2.93E-05 -1.52E-08 4.61E+03 2.29E+01 8.25E-02 -1.54E-04 1.21E+04 1.03E+01 3.40E-02 -2.23E-05
comp3 8.95E-02 1.70E-03 1.87E-05 5.62E-09 5.73E+03 1.85E+01 1.20E-01 -1.68E-04 1.49E+04 1.36E+01 2.15E-02 2.54E-05
comp4 7.21E-02 7.67E-04 1.68E-05 5.84E-09 5.95E+03 2.59E+01 6.17E-02 -5.09E-05 1.60E+04 1.43E+01 2.63E-02 3.91E-06
comp5 1.39E-02 5.14E-04 6.39E-06 1.43E-08 6.79E+03 4.00E+01 -1.74E-02 1.14E-04 1.87E+04 2.63E+01 -2.60E-02 9.95E-05
comp6 2.22E-02 4.53E-05 7.77E-06 9.79E-09 6.68E+03 4.60E+01 -3.99E-02 1.38E-04 1.93E+04 2.95E+01 -2.97E-02 8.25E-05
comp7 -4.00E-03 2.16E-04 -1.28E-06 1.35E-08 8.86E+03 4.80E+01 3.57E-02 3.37E-06 2.57E+04 3.39E+01 4.39E-02 -4.72E-05

Temp 3 49.6 C 121.3 F

Temp 4 54.4 C 129.9 F
Temp 5 58.2 C 136.8 F

mole frac kmol/h kJ/kmol kJ/h mole frac kmol/h kJ/kmol kJ/h mole frac kmol/h kJ/kmol kJ/h mole frac kmol/h kJ/kmol kJ/h
CompV4 FlowV4 CompH4 EV4 CompL4 FlowL4 Comph4 EL4 CompV5 FlowV5 CompH5 EV5 CompL3 FlowL3 Comph3 EL3
comp1 0.10024 17.4 2.36E+04 4.10E+05 0.02829 3.1 1.73E+04 5.42E+04 0.09893 16.9 2.38E+04 4.03E+05 0.03154 3.6 1.69E+04 6.00E+04
comp2 0.59205 102.5 3.26E+04 3.34E+06 0.44372 49.1 2.01E+04 9.85E+05 0.53241 91.1 3.29E+04 2.99E+06 0.53694 60.5 1.93E+04 1.17E+06
comp3 0.23035 39.9 3.98E+04 1.59E+06 0.36165 40.0 2.28E+04 9.12E+05 0.25757 44.1 4.01E+04 1.77E+06 0.31799 35.8 2.20E+04 7.87E+05
comp4 0.07702 13.3 4.26E+04 5.68E+05 0.16465 18.2 2.38E+04 4.34E+05 0.11000 18.8 4.30E+04 8.09E+05 0.11301 12.7 2.31E+04 2.93E+05
comp5 0.00022 0.0 5.09E+04 1.94E+03 0.00102 0.1 2.78E+04 3.13E+03 0.00066 0.1 5.13E+04 5.79E+03 0.00034 0.0 2.70E+04 1.03E+03
comp6 0.00012 0.0 5.31E+04 1.10E+03 0.00065 0.1 2.86E+04 2.05E+03 0.00042 0.1 5.36E+04 3.85E+03 0.00018 0.0 2.77E+04 5.62E+02
comp7 0.00000 0.0 7.14E+04 0.00E+00 0.00000 0.0 3.65E+04 0.00E+00 0.00000 0.0 7.21E+04 0.00E+00 0.00000 0.0 3.54E+04 0.00E+00
TOTAL 1.00000 173.1 5.91E+06 110.6 2.39E+06 0.99999 171.1 5.98E+06 1.00000 112.6 2.31E+06

V4 L4 OUT V5 L3 IN K4 K4calc EV4 EL4 OUT EV5 EL3 IN

comp1 17.4 3.1 20.5 16.9 3.6 20.5 3.54330 3.54939 4.10E+05 5.42E+04 4.64E+05 4.03E+05 6.00E+04 4.63E+05
comp2 102.5 49.1 151.6 91.1 60.5 151.6 1.33429 1.33695 3.34E+06 9.85E+05 4.32E+06 2.99E+06 1.17E+06 4.16E+06
comp3 39.9 40.0 79.9 44.1 35.8 79.9 0.63694 0.63829 1.59E+06 9.12E+05 2.50E+06 1.77E+06 7.87E+05 2.55E+06
comp4 13.3 18.2 31.5 18.8 12.7 31.5 0.46778 0.46878 5.68E+05 4.34E+05 1.00E+06 8.09E+05 2.93E+05 1.10E+06
comp5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.21569 0.21984 1.94E+03 3.13E+03 5.07E+03 5.79E+03 1.03E+03 6.83E+03
comp6 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.18462 0.18059 1.10E+03 2.05E+03 3.16E+03 3.85E+03 5.62E+02 4.41E+03
comp7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.03201 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00
TOTAL 173.1 110.6 283.7 171.1 112.6 283.7 5.91E+06 2.39E+06 8.30E+06 5.98E+06 2.31E+06 8.29E+06
 Prof Kevin Galvin
Ph: 4033 9077
CHEE3741 2016, Assignment 1
Topic: Distillation

Question 1: Chloroform-Benzene Distillation

A mixture of 30 mol.% chloroform in benzene is to be separated by distillation so that an
overheads product containing 85 mol.% chloroform is obtained. The feed is introduced into
the column as saturated liquid and the mole ratio of liquid reflux to distillate product is
controlled at R = 20 by a reflux divider in the condensate stream from a partial condenser.
How many ideal plates must be used if the bottoms composition is to be maintained at 5
mol.% chloroform? What is the recovery of chloroform from this column? What are the
liquid and vapour flow rates in the two sections of the column? Use a basis of 100 kmol/h of
feed. Equilibrium data is provided in the table below.

Source: Foust et al. (1980)

Question 2: Ammonia-Water Distillation

Refer to the ammonia-water system at 100 psia. Ammonia and water, in a saturated liquid
state at 150 F, are to be separated using a distillation column consisting of three equilibrium
stages, with the distillate mol fraction of ammonia at 0.90 and with the exit waste mol
fraction of ammonia set at 0.02. Determine the required reflux ratio, and the required internal
flows through the column on both sides of the feed entry position. Assume the feed enters in
the middle of the vessel and that the feed rate is 1000 kmol/h. The equilibrium diagram is
provided over the page.

8
 Source: Foust et al. (1980)
9
 CHEE3741 – Advice - Assignment 1 2016

Q1) no additional information needed

Allocations of Marks
How many ideal plates must be used if the bottoms composition is to be maintained at 5
mol% chloroform? 25 marks
Students need to provide a sketch of the system showing the internal and external flows.
Students need to provide the basic calculations to support the graphical construction and then
prepare a graph and correctly step off the correct number of stages.

What is the recovery of chloroform from this column? 12 marks

Provide the correct set of calculations.

What are the liquid and vapour flow rates in the two sections of the column? 13 marks
Provide the correct set of calculations.

Q2) Students need to provide a sketch of the system showing the internal and external flows,
using symbols. 10 marks

Students need to correctly specify the feed operating line, based on the enthalpy
concentration diagram. 10 marks

Students need to provide the basic calculations to support the graphical construction. They
should then show the final graph. They should explain the approach used to obtain the Reflux
Ratio. 20 marks

They should then provide the internal liquid flows. 10 marks

10
 Prof Kevin Galvin
Ph: 4033 9077
CHEE3741 2016, Assignment 2
Topic: Mass Transfer
Question 1:
Consider the equimolar counter diffusion of component A from the liquid phase to the gas phase. The
equilibrium data indicate that at low concentrations yA = 15.0xA. If the bulk concentrations in the gas and liquid
phases are yA = 0.04 and xA = 0.005 respectively, and ky = 8.0 10-6 and kx = 6.67  10-5 kmol/(m2 s), find the
interfacial concentrations for the two phases and the rate of mass transfer.

Provide a graph showing the equilibrium curve and relevant data.

You need to use two methods, the first being expressions based on the local mass transfer coefficients, and the
second based on the use of an overall gas phase mass transfer coefficient. Based on the second method, calculate
the % of the resistance to mass transfer in each of the two phases.

Question 2:
Using an Excel spreadsheet, solve Question 1 using different values of the local mass transfer coefficient over
the range kx = 6.67  10-5 to 6.67  10-3. Approximately 10 equally spaced values should be sufficient.

Provide a print out of the spreadsheet together with a complete set of sample calculations for one of the kx
values trialled.

Plot the % of the resistance to mass transfer in the gas phase versus kx.

Also plot the value of yAi versus the % resistance to mass transfer in the gas phase. What conclusion can you
make regarding the value of yAi when there is no resistance to mass transfer in the liquid phase? What
conclusion can you make about the relationship between the local mass transfer coefficient in the gas phase and
the overall mass transfer coefficient based on the gas phase?

Question 3:
Outline how you could quickly solve this problem with kx = 6.67  10-3, based on the assumption that there is
negligible resistance to mass transfer in the liquid phase.

11
 Dr Simon Iveson
Ph: 4033 9079
CHEE3741 2015, Assignment 3
Topic: Staged Absorption and Liquid-Liquid Extraction

Q1. Staged Absorption

At your dry cleaning plant, a contaminated air stream contains 14 mol.% acetone. Its flowrate
is 500 ft3/min measured at 1 atm and 32 F. This gas stream is cleaned using a counter current
flow of water initially containing 0.02 mol.% acetone. The absorber needs to remove 95 % of
the acetone in the feed gas stream. The absorption tower has cooling and operates at constant
conditions of 80 F and 1 atm. At these conditions the equilibrium relationship is y = 2.0 x,
where y is the mole fraction acetone in the air stream and x is the mole fraction acetone in the
liquid stream. Determine:
a) The flowrate of the feed gas in gmol/s.
b) The theoretical minimum liquid flowrate.

If an actual liquid flowrate of 26.65 mol/s is used, then determine:

c) The exit liquid flowrate and concentration.
d) The number of equilibrium stages required.
e) The number of stages required if the Murphree stage efficiency is 80 %.

*** Tray tower version of Problem 18.1 (McCabe et al., 2005)

PTO for Question 2.

12
Q2. Liquid-Liquid Extraction
Pure furfural is to be used as a solvent to remove the solute ethylene glycol from a process
stream containing 25 wt.% ethylene glycol and 75 wt.% water.

For a staged counter-current extraction process, if it is desired to lower the ethylene glycol
content of the aqueous (water dominated) stream below 5 wt.%, then:
(i) Determine the minimum amount of furfural needed (per 100 kg feed).
(ii) At 1.5 times the minimum solvent flowrate determine a) the number of stages
required, b) the composition of the final extract, c) the mass of final extract and
raffinate (per 100 kg feed) and d) the percentage of ethylene glycol in the feed that is
recovered in the extract.

For a single-stage batch operation, if it is desired to lower the ethylene glycol content below 5
wt.%, then:
(iii) Determine the amount of furfural needed to achieve the target raffinate concentration
(per 100 kg feed). What is the extract concentration and percentage recovery of
ethylene glycol?

For a two-stage batch (cross flow) operation where 30 kg of fresh solvent is used in each
stage per 100 kg of fresh feed (i.e. 30 kg solvent is added to first batch reactor, after
equilibrium the raffinate is then mixed with 30 kg solvent in a second batch reactor to give
the final raffinate. The extracts from each stage are then combined to give the overall
extract):
(iv) Determine a) the concentration and amount of the final raffinate, b) the total amount
and concentration of the overall extract, and c) the recovery of ethylene glycol to the
extract.

Comparison:
(v) Comment on the pros and cons of these three different extraction processes.

Equilibrium data for this system is given on the next page.

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Equilibrium data for the ethylene glycol – furfural – water system at 25 C, 101 kPa is given
below expressed in mass percents.

Figure 3.10a, Henley, E.J. & Seader, J.D. (1981). Equilibrium stage separation operations in chemical
engineering, New York: Wiley.

*** Used 2011, CHEE3741 Assignment 5

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 Dr Simon Iveson
Ph: 4033 9079
CHEE3741 2016, Assignment 4
Topic: Leaching & Packed Column Absorption

Q1. Leaching

Seeds containing 25 wt.% oil are extracted in a counter-current plant and 90 % of the oil is to
be recovered in a solution containing 50 wt.% oil. It has been found experimentally that the
amount of solution entrained in the underflow in association with every kilogram of insoluble
matter is given by the equation:
k = 0.7 + 0.5ys + 3ys2

where k is the kg of solution per kg of insoluble solids and ys is the concentration of the
overflow solution (mass fraction of oil in solids-free solution). Fresh solvent feed is used with
no dissolved oil present.

(i) Calculate the amount of extract produced per 100 kg of seeds.

(ii) Construct a right-angle triangle diagram and plot the underflow line. Put solids at the
bottom-left corner (the right angle), oil at the top corner and solvent at the right-hand corner.

(iii) Use the relative amounts of the feed and extract to locate the  point and hence find the
amount and concentration of the final raffinate and the amount of solvent required.

(iv) Calculate the number of ideal stages required.

(v) Determine the theoretical minimum solvent rate that could be used (i.e. with an infinite
number of stages) that would still enable recovery of 90 wt.% of the oil from the feed seeds.
*** Problem 10.11 from C&R (Vol.2). Min solvent rate added in 2016; Used 2012 in CHEE3741; 2000 in CHEE322.

Q2. Absorption in Packed Columns (differential)

You are still working at the same dry cleaning plant as in Assignment 3 Q1. The absorber has
to treat 10.53 gmol/s of gas containing 14 mol.% acetone (the rest is air). This is to be washed
counter-currently with 26.65 gmol/s of water which enters containing 0.02 mol.% acetone. 95
% of the acetone in the gas must be removed before it is released to the environment. The
tower is to operate at a constant temperature of 26.67 ºC and pressure of 1 atm. The Henry’s
law relationship for this system is y = 2.0 x, where y is the mole fraction acetone in the air
stream and x is the mole fraction acetone in the liquid stream.

It has been decided to investigate the feasibility of replacing the old counter-current tray
absorption column with a packed tower filled with 1-in. Raschig rings. If the tower is to be
designed to operate at 50 % of the flooding velocity, determine:
a) The tower diameter needed.
b) The number of transfer units needed, based on the overall gas-phase driving force.
c) The total height of packing required.

*** Ass 6 and 7, CHEE374, 2002; Based on Problem 18-1 (McCabe et a., 2005)

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 CHEE3741 2016, Weekly Lecture Summaries
Students are required to make a summary of the content of each week’s lectures and tutorials
(4 h total content). This is not intended to be an onerous burden, but rather an encouragement
to students to progressively revise the course content in a systematic manner. This should
help them to understand the content at a deeper level and thus be better able to build on this
knowledge in the subsequent lectures, as well as being better prepared for the final exam.

Summaries must be hand written. Keep the original for your own records and submit a
scanned pdf copy on Blackboard. Each summary is due to be submitted by 12 midnight on
the Tuesday night preceding the next lecture e.g. the summary of the Week 1 lecture on Wed
24/02/11 must be submitted by midnight on Tuesday 01/03/15 (NB: the Week 12 lecture
summary is due by the Tuesday night of Week 13). We suggest that students should attempt
to complete this task within 24 h of the lecture while the material is fresh in their minds. If
after this process students realise that some concepts are still confusing, then this should
prompt them to ask about it at the following week’s tutorial.

We recognise that from time to time circumstances beyond a student’s control may result in
late submissions of these summaries. Therefore over the course of the semester we will
permit a cumulative total of 14 days (or part days) of late submissions without penalty. Once
that quota is exceeded, summaries submitted late will receive zero marks.

The expectation is that one (1) page will suffice, although students are welcome to make
each week’s summary longer if needed. You are encouraged to include sketches, graphs,
mind-maps, short worked examples – whatever helps you to better understand the concepts
being covered. Simply re-stating the summaries of each topic given in the lecture notes is
NOT sufficient and will receive zero marks. Students need to express ideas in their own
words and demonstrate that they have made an effort to understand the concept and integrate
it with previous content.

Marking will be on a coarse scale with 100 % for a reasonable effort, and lower marks
awarded only if a token or no effort was made. These summaries will not be marked until the
end of semester.

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